Students to remain in classroom for rest of school year, Duncan says

Students in most Regina schools returned to in-person learning on Monday and that is where they will finish the school year, says Education Minister Dustin Duncan.

“That’s the plan. Certainly, school divisions may make adjustments in terms of what level they’re operating at at any given time based on what the local situation is, but certainly it is our expectation that students will be in school until the end of the school year in June,” Duncan told Gormley on Monday morning.

“With the warmer weather now, I think you’ll probably see more students and more classes being moved outside.”

Remote learning has been taking place in Regina schools since late March. Last week, schools in the Prairie Valley School Division resumed classes.

A return to in-person classes in Regina wasn’t welcomed by all. Last month a petition circulated calling for online learning to continue until school staff have been vaccinated.

Ava Wenger, a Grade 10 student at Michael A. Riffel High School, was among those worried about going back.

“I know that some kids aren’t taking the proper precautions outside of school such as like not wearing masks and not social distancing,” she said.

At this point it is still unclear if or how rapid tests will be deployed.

The province had shipped 100,000 of them in March, and Duncan said last week they had been delivered.

He said it would be up to school divisions to decide where to deploy the tests and to produce consent forms. Schools with a nurse on staff can administer the tests, Duncan said, but if not, schools need a third party to do so.